So I had an idea the other day that was equal parts ridiculous and genius: what if I used AI to "redecorate" my actual craft room in a bunch of different aesthetics? Not for real life - just to see what happened and steal some ideas along the way.
I uploaded one photo of my real craft room (Kallax and Alex units and all) into Ideogram and asked it to reimagine the space in different core aesthetics, one at a time. What came back was honestly some of the best free interior design inspiration I've gotten in a while - plus my poor cordless drill made a cameo in almost every single image like it was contractually obligated to be there!
Here's everything it came up with, and what I'd actually steal from each one...
RESOURCES:
Craft Room Aesthetic WalkThrough Video
Cottage Core
This one was an immediate yes for me. The AI kept things pretty realistic - it basically just added a little fabric swag, a bunch of baskets, some cottage-y hangings, and a few things dangling from the ceiling. That's it. That's the whole transformation, and it's completely doable in a weekend. I would be able to shop my home for a lot of these bits and bobs for sure!
Goblin Core
This is where things got weird in the best way. Think dark greens, nature-inspired everything, hanging mushrooms, a cloche, apothecary jars, and - I am not joking - taxidermy. There was even a little fireplace built into the desk, which is wildly impractical but I respect the commitment. The shelf-of-curiosities vibe here is something you could absolutely recreate with thrifted jars and dried botanicals. The little hanging magnifying glasses were a sweet detail.
Dark Academia
Moody, candelabra-heavy, and full of books (so many books the room barely reads as a craft room anymore... sigh). One version actually looked a lot like how I already had my own desk styled, which felt like a nice little confirmation that I'm already leaning this direction without trying. This one would be a fun collection opportunity and the dark velvet drapes, divine!
Barbie Core
I did this one as an ode to my granddaughter and ended up loving it more than I expected. Stripes, a candelabra, a fancier curtain, a bench instead of a chair, a pink marble desktop, and the AI even turned my drill pink. The whole look comes down to painting out the storage units, a tufted bench, and bling - genuinely one of the easiest aesthetics on this list to actually pull off.
Boho
I'll be honest, my personal definition of boho leans more Afrohemian, but I let the AI run with the current "all beige and texture" version of boho anyway. Jute rugs, macrame, woven baskets, a wood desktop - it even turned one of my storage units into a cute little display piece, which gave me a real idea for how I could organize my own bins.
Neo Deco
This was one of my favorites! Art Deco but modernized - gold accents, curved lines, new hardware, and painted insides on the storage units. One version even gold-plated my drill (RIP, drill, you deserved better than this kind of bling!) The version with the green-bottomed IKEA desk and a simple curved top felt the most "I could actually build this and have it look dope" on the list! The gold cutouts on the wall could be lauan wood that is cut out with a jigsaw.
Clean Girl
Pastels, acrylic everything, a pegboard wall, and the storage units broken down and reassembled into something far more minimal than what I started with. It's not my personal vibe, but I can't deny it nailed the trend - crisp white lines, soft cream accents, very on-brand for clean girl content.
Mermaid Core
This was the silliest one and also secretly one of the most useful. Fish-scale wallpaper on the storage units, seashell pillows, a resin desktop, and (my favorite detail) blue LED lights placed behind the units instead of painting them at all. Since I live in Florida, the real-life version of this is just "go collect seashells and add a blue rug," which is shockingly low effort for how good it looked.
Bonus: Coastal Grandma
Because no aesthetic roundup is complete without it, especially living where I live. Think breezy linen slipcovers, lots of natural rattan and wicker, soft blues and creams, oversized woven baskets, a relaxed gathered curtain instead of anything structured, and a stack of coffee table books as both decor and storage. It's basically "Florida coastal" without going full nautical-themed restaurant - exactly the grown-up beachy vibe I'm always chasing for this house.
Tara's Tips
A few things I want you to walk away with if you try this yourself:
You don't have to recreate the whole room. Honestly, that's not even the point. Pick one or two elements from a style you love - new hardware, a curtain swap, painted insides on your storage units - and let that be enough. A full aesthetic overhaul is overwhelming. A drawer pull swap is a Tuesday!
Shop your own house first. Before you buy anything, look at what you already have. Could that vase become an apothecary jar? Could that scarf become a swag drape?
Amazon is great for the small stuff. Drawer pulls, peel-and-stick wallpaper, LED light strips, baskets - all the little detail pieces that make a style read correctly are easy (and often cheap) to find there.
Thrift stores and estate sales are great for the soul of the room. The candelabras, the weird taxidermy piece, the mismatched frames, the bench with character - that's where you find the things that make a space feel collected instead of bought-all-at-once. You know I'm never going to tell you to skip the estate sale.
Use AI as a mood board, not a blueprint. It's not going to give you something perfectly buildable, and that's fine - it's not supposed to! Use it to figure out what you're drawn to, then translate that into real materials and real budget.
Watch for the "extra mile" details that aren't actually extra work. The blue LED lights instead of painting the mermaid core units was the best example of this - sometimes the "easy version" of a big idea is hiding right there in the image.
